John was in the middle of Primal Scream therapy when he wrote these songs. According to Wiki Following the break-up of the Beatles in April 1970, John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono undertook primal therapy with the guidance of Arthur Janov for four weeks at his London offices. The three then flew to Los Angeles to continue the therapy for four months.[6] Janov's therapy technique emphasised emotionally reliving repressed childhood traumas rather than analytical discussion.[7] Lennon and Ono stayed in a rented house in Bel Air, keeping a low profile and committing fully to Janov's course.[8] Lennon embraced the discipline as he had Transcendental Meditation in the late 1960s, and the act of engaging with past traumas became "to primal".[9] Ono later commented that primal therapy helped curb his possessiveness towards her, as he recognised that his feelings of jealousy stemmed from events that took place long before they met.[9] With the experience he received from the therapy, Lennon was able to channel his emotions into an album's worth of self-revelatory material.[10] In July, he started to record demos of songs that would show up on John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. On 26 July, he taped numerous demos of "God", which includes the line "I don't believe in Beatles".[11] "When a Boy Meets a Girl" was among the songs Lennon demoed at this time, but he did not record it for the album.
It’s Ringo on drums, John on all guitar/piano and Klaus Voormann (the guy who drew the Revolver album cover) on bass. Billy Preston plays organ on organ the song God. Great analysis, as usual. I watch a bunch of reaction videos (I’m old and retired!) and think you’re the best at it. You should start a Patreon channel!
Raw and honest. I mean who has ever been as honest as John Lennon? This intense album has always been one of my favorites. Just wait for the intensity of side 2!
There is SO MUCH raw emotion on this album, it's completely unique in rock history, so immensely personal. I'm not sure if Lennon ever matched it in terms of self-expression. Enjoy Side II!
Plastic Ono Band has so much to say to us all, fifty or so years beyond its recording. It will have so much to say fifty years from now too, ‘love is real, real is love’…in John we deal with a very different kind of artist.
Ringo is the drummer on this album. Great work from him. I like this album because it solidified that John was best when he was writing songs about himself and his life.
John is my favorite Beatle. You can really hear his independence from being in a high profile group with his post Beatles work and this album is a great example of that.
Crystal, it's great that you are continuing your music exploration with Post-Beatles albums. I remember when All Things Must Pass, JL/Plastic Ono Band, and McCartney first came out. I bought them all and listened to them many times. Now I can relive the thrill of my younger days as you listen to the Post-Beatles music for the first time. Thank you!
20:13 Might be my fav part cuz I really think there’re some of the YTers don’t care about their subscribers (No matter how much they are) and so at every time I finish watching one of your videos I just read maybe half of the comment section and I gotta admit that they’re really so kindly written and caring.. the way that makes me goes like she must be happy rn reading this... Wish u all best ☮️💟
Aww Brandon thank you!!! You are so right there are definitely a lot of people on here that are so kind, compassionate and extremely helpful during this insanely rough time. I am very very lucky to have such a strong community to be a part of. Very lucky to be able to be in touch with people like you. Heart warming and caring. Gotta say this is one of those moments that leave me smiling and hopeful for this world. Thank you for being a beacon of light! ✨
@@CrystalMarieShannon I'm so proud of this gosh Idk what to say but... Ik I'm gonna get back here and read this reply over and over again, stay safe C. ^_^
...I only wish I had listened to it at age 18. I was so close - I really admired John. But unfortunately, I was scared off by the few solo songs I had heard. If I had heard this album, I would have been blown away, and deeply affected.
Yes. John went into the studio on many late nights and screamed into the mic, "Mama don't go, daddy come home." It was both musical expression and therapy.
IMO, this is the best solo album by any of the Beatles, and one of the best albums by anybody. John would be even more of a legend if he could have sustained this incredible level of uncompromising artistic expression.
I wish John himself could see this. You nailed it in the first song, comparing it to the wail of a baby....the "primal scream", a term (and therapy) this album is associated with. And nailed it again: "vibrato" is literally the knob on the amp that John was using to get that guitar sound in "Hold On" And nailed it again on the third song: John was going for simplicity, anti-Beatle sound, and direct emotion. No flowery words, no poetry. 12:29 made me burst out laughing, lol. Good callback to "Rocky Raccoon" and the acoustic songs of The White Album. Ultimately Dylan would be the musical influence on "Working Class Hero" (specifically a song called, "North Country Blues")./ PS: John did three singles in the year and a half before this album: "Give Peace A Chance", "Cold Turkey" and "Instant Karma". Three completely different sounding songs from each other, and "Plastic Ono Band"! That might make a great short video, just those three songs, all three are classics. Ringo's albums from this period aren't worth a video, but his single "It Don't Come Easy" (made with George) is. And that's fitting, since he only had one song per Beatles album usually! :D PSS: This is one of my favorite reactions you've done. "Dark Side" also. Thanks, Crystal!!!!
I’m not just saying this. I believe wherever John Lennon is, he’s smiling after watching this. If he were alive today, I think he’d love social media and he’d be retweeting this on his Twitter and posting on his Facebook and Instagram telling his followers to go check out Crystal Shannon.
This was by far the most confronting and challenging of the solo albums released by the individual Beatles following their break-up. As part of the backdrop, you must remember that Lennon came from a broken home and that, at the age of 5 or 6, was asked to choose between his flighty mother Julia and his father Fred when the latter was about to depart for New Zealand. He initially went towards Fred but ultimately ran back to his mother, the somewhat flighty Julia. As this album shows, this and other childhood experiences clearly left a deep emotional and psychological mark on him, notably in tracks like "Mother" and "I Found Out". He remained with Julia but, for much of his childhood, lived with his (very strict) Aunt Mimi (Julia's sister). As he grew up, he became one of the class pests at school, dropped out and went to art school, where he met McCartney, who had recently lost his mother to cancer. A year or so after they met, Julia was killed in a tragic car accident, something else that scarred Lennon for a long time and covered quite dramatically in a movie called "Backbeat". The rest of course is history. John's personal torment was more or less suppressed during his Beatles' years, but he always seemed to be the one with a predisposition to experiment, especially with drugs and notably with heroin in the wake of the Beatles' sojourn in India in 1968, but also musically. BTW, if we're to believe "Get Back", he seemed to have kicked the heroin by early 1969, although following the Beatles break-up, he did seek help from a noted therapist called Arthur Janov. This album actually covers much of that journey and seeks to link it back to his childhood experiences. The album itself, as I say, is his most direct and challenging. I think it sold but, only a year or so later, he sought to cover at least some of the same ground on a much more commercially saleable album, "Imagine".
YAY you did this album! It's intense isn't it? It's not punk but punks mention this album as inspiration - the relative simplicity of structure and choice of instruments, the sometimes overwhelming tsunami of emotion followed by intimate, quiet moments of calm and encouragement. But oh boy once you hear "Mother" you can't unhear it. Raw beauty.
Hold On is my favourite song of all time. It fills me with so much comfort to hear those words come from the man himself! I love him. This is a great reaction
John talked about the sound of sadness the bell brought to the beginning of this album and purposefully used a happy sounding bell at the beginning of "Double Fantasy."
@@GheberAlien I was 8 years old when the Starting Over single came out in November 1980. I remember it was close to Thanksgiving and going to the record store to buy the 45. I must have played it a thousand times and then just a couple of weeks later, John was gone. I’m grateful that I was alive when John was still alive and that was the summer I discovered The Beatles. And, if there had been UA-cam back then, I probably would have been just like Crystal with the pure joy on my face and in my eyes over the music. I think of this every time I listen to Starting Over.
@@Sweetish_Jeff_ Let's see. I was 21 when "Starting Over" came out. I did not care for this song as much as his follow-up hits "Woman" and the double-sided one of "Watching the Wheels, and "Beautiful Boy". I well remember that it entered the charts at #38, which was very impressive for an initial entry, but then climbed to only #32 the following week. But the week after that it shot all the way up to #10 and then was slowly making its way towards the top when tragedy struck and he was senselessly killed. God it was sad. After his death the song leaped to the top and spent five weeks there and ending up becoming one of the biggest hits of the year. I have often wondered if that song would have made it to #1 on its own if poor Mr. JL had not been gunned down in front of his apartment.
Crystal I am glad that you like the song "Mother" here is the inspiration for the song "Mother" The lyrics of "Mother" address both of Lennon's parents, each of whom abandoned him in his childhood. His father, Alf, left the family when John was an infant. His mother, Julia, did not live with her son, although they had a good relationship; she was hit and killed in a car accident on 15 July 1958 by an off-duty policeman named Eric Clague, when Lennon was 17
To clarify - she was a pedestrian, and was hit by a car while walking across the street to catch the bus after leaving John's/his aunt's house after a visit - John wasn't at home when it happened. To expand John's story further, John's father came back into his life once Lennon became rich and famous, but they never got close, probably because John quite understandably distrusted the motives/timing of his father's return. When his father abandoned John and his mother, she gave John to her sister to raise (Aunt Mimi). John said later that his mother came back into his life once he was a teenager, once she had settled down with a new family (giving John two half-sisters - she was a bit of a party girl until then). He got along well enough with his mother's new partner (IIRC she and John's father never actually got divorced) but he wouldn't take John to live with them as he didn't want to raise another man's son (as John's father never paid child support) when he already had two kids of his own to raise/support, and John was so settled in living with his aunt, they just decided to leave everything as it when his mother settled down and became more of a presence in his life. It was like his aunt was his mother, and his mother was a favorite/fun aunt. One thing that seemed a constant in John's early life was that almost everyone he cared about either abandoned him, died, or both. The aunt that raised him had no kids, so her husband loved John like a son. He was the loving, permissive parent while John's aunt was the disciplinarian. A few years before John's mother died, he also died, devastating John. Then a few years after his mother died, his best friend (Stu Sutcliffe) died...etc...
@@ronaldtdump2156 Paul McCartney said on the Howard Stern Show" that John Lennon believed that he was a cursed and that everybody he got close to died a short time (His Uncle George, His mother Julia and Stu Sutcliffe and etc).
You are diving into one of rock history most raw and honest albums ever- cuts through the heart and Bones and considered for many as the uncouicesness Birth of punk and later on grunge - The primitive simplicity of the recording and the raw gritty guitars was very new back there in the early 70'es ...Kurt Cobain loved this record
Crystal, I need you to know it's official!! Your fans have just voted you "Rookie of the Year" among all the new UA-cam music video reaction channels!!!!! Your trophy is in the mail (along with the cheque, lol)! Seriously, though, I have said it before and I will say it repeatedly - you are a treasure, and one of my very favourite channels on this platform! It is truly a shame you don't have hundreds of thousands of subscribers, but keep it up and you will get there, I am sure! Since you asked, my request for you is to put on your list the albums by Queen and Supertramp!! Best to you as always!!!!!!!
I LOVE your very intelligent observations of this classic album.This was John's first post- Beatles album & was inspired by the Dr.Janov therapy known as " primal scream."...He was getting in touch with all his childhood & teen angst & anger. You picked up on all of that. Side 2 is also brutal, yet brilliant.
Crystal: Although I have no idea why John chose to do it, his "Cookie" shout in the song "Hold On" was what the Sesame Street (a fairly new US children's television program at the time) character, the Cookie Monster, would say (in the exact way Lennon said it) just before attacking/devouring an entire plate full of cookies.
Wow Chrystal. Going from Pet Sounds to The Plastic Ono Band is like going from a silk glove to a sledge hammer. But interestingly enough, both albums from Messrs. Wilson and Lennon come from the depths of their inner being. Both baring their souls for the any and all to see. On to Side Two!! Enjoy, RNB
At 75, and a First Gen Beatles Fan (!), I just discovered your channel & can't tell you how MUCH it means to me to see & watch a musically sophisticated and intelligent young musician like you "Get The Beatles Virus" into your soul! It's life-changing. In 1964, I first heard them on radio, bought their 1st records, grew my Beatle "do" & got to see them at Red Rocks. My hair & face turned out to look like John & I created quite a stir in the audience -- photos, autographs, giggling, crying little girl fans... Over the next 3 weeks, a convoluted series of events from that led to my being flown from Denver to Dallas to meet them at their hotel and hang out with them in the dressing room, watching the concert from backstage & the wings. My world flipped upside down -- came home, got drums & embarked on a loong road of rock & roll & all that goes with it. I'm thrilled to see a couple of generations down from me being also so swept into The Fabs and The Beatles rabbit hole. Your reviews are MOST impressive! Thanx for your spirit, musicality and hard work 💜💙💚🧡
Hi Crystal! I've loved all your reactions and this is the best one yet! I'm proud of how you handled this first side, one of the most intense artistic expressions ever. I was so blown away the first time I heard this album all those years ago. John invented hardcore with I Found Out...just a masterpiece of an album.
John’s first two solo albums are absolute classics. All Things Must Pass was George’s masterpiece. Can’t wait till you get to Paul McCartney and Wings’s Band on the Run. It took Paul a little while to steady his footing after the breakup, but after BOTR, he was in full-flight once again. All four did great work in the ‘70s.
That’s one of the things i love most about this album. He really focuses our ears on the lyrics, and the story of each song. Like on the song God, when he sings “i don’t believe” how ever many times. Its sort of musically “incorrect” from a songwriting perspective, but getting the message out was paramount.
A tragic album that speaks to me over 50 years in my life. I've had a tragic life and i know what he was trying to say. A brilliant album from a brilliant artist. I understand, John. Rest in peace, my hero!
This is in my top 10 favorites ever. It fitted my mental state at the time I first heard it as an emotionally messed up teenager. Vibrato is exactly the right guitar term. The Hold On melody you point out has always sounded familiar to me too and that's for the past 40 years and I haven't put my finger on it either. And he says COOKIE because he's a very fun loving guy when he's in that mood. He's very relaxed during the recording of this album but he's singing some very heavy stuff that comes from underneath that hilarious exterior. You give such great insightful comments musically and the flow of the lyrics.
For Lennon's entire life, it seemed like the media, the fans, and often those closest to him found it hard to tell where his head was at. Starting with "Help!" his songwriting evolved into something that let us in, culminating with Plastic Ono and Imagine. The end of the Beatles (and his relationship with Yoko) liberated him.
Trivia: When "Sgt. Pepper" came out artists since then felt the need to do their own "Sgt. Pepper" - with this album by John, artists since then have felt the need to do their own "Plastic Ono Band" or "Primal" album 🎶
I quite enjoyed your take on this one. When you began and said you hadn't heard it before, I knew you were in for an experience. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Love you too! It is more than a pleasure to watch your reactions and knowledgeable explanations! You are like a friend to us. I believe I can speak for everyone in this regard. You are such a good soul! Don't forget that John's music was made before the Bee Gees were really well known so if you think you hear them in his song you should remind yourself that it was the other way around! In fact the whole rock music scene followed their example and progress. Back then it was The Beatles and then everyone else playing catch up behind them! Love to you!!! Be Happy! A song I would suggest you listen to is Yoko Ono's song Goodbye Sadness, it's a song from the album that she released after John's death. It is beautiful and might help you through sad times. Peace!
That "guitar vibrato" you're talking about is a flanger effect. It's a really beautiful way to give the guitar a human-like quality when its notes sustain. Glad you enjoyed side one. :)
Listening to you talking about how good we impact your life and it's quite the opposite. At least for me it's so relaxing and joyfull stare at you reacting with your smooth voice and your sweetness. I can hardly wait to hear you say "número 4" i don't know why but it's sounds so melodious to me. You are my favorite!
When The Beatles broke up in early 1970, John fell into a deep depression and didn't leave his house for two months. He sought help from a LA therapist who specialized in primal scream therapy. That is what inspired this album. I hope you are doing great Crystal!
No matter how much he let on in public, I think John was truly hurt that The Beatles split. He put up a good front and had that tough facade in public, but I think privately he was really sad it was over.
@@PeterBuwen He wanted The Beatles to record a new album for Christmas 1969. This was after Abbey Road. John suggested 14 tracks: four of his, four of Paul, four of George, and two for Ringo if he wanted it. Paul wasn’t keen on the arrangement and none of them could agree. A few days later John played live in Toronto with the POB and that gave him the confidence to move on from The Beatles.
Same thing happened to Paul McCartney, except he didn't go into Primal Therapy, but instead went on a long drinking binge which his wife Linda helped to pull him of and get him back on his feet again.
Hey Crystal, another excellent album reaction video, kudos. Both All Things Must Pass and John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band were co-produced by Phil Spector. He will also work on Imagine the following year. His last work with any of the boys, if I'm not mistaken. As a bit of trivia, on the same day of release of John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band was its sister album Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band with the exact same cover only the couple trading places and same back cover with Yoko's baby picture. Both albums done under the same sessions. In many ways both albums complete each other conceptually although Yoko's musical approach is considerably different. Looking at the comments I was pleased to see that someone has already mentioned Lennon's first three singles prior to this [Give Peace A Chance (1969), Cold Turkey (1969) and Instant Karma (1970)] but wish to also add one more single that never made it on album Power To The People (1972) released after the album Imagine. On a similar note, I'd like to talk to you about Ringo Starr. I would strongly suggest you follow his three albums released between 1973-1976 (RINGO (1973), Goodnight Vienna (1974) and Ringo's Rotogravure (1976). Between 1970-1971 Ringo did release two excellent singles: It Don't Come Easy/Early 1970 (1971) and Back Off Boogaloo (1972) that are generally loved by most Beatles fans. Paul McCartney also released a number of singles only songs between 1970-1972. But the McCartney album did come first. We can talk about those singles later. Awaiting Side Two; stay healthy, stay well.
Cookieee!👾 (That was the closest thing to a cookie monster emoji I could find. Sesame Street had just started out when this album was recorded and was an instant success.)
Nicely done!!! BTW, if you listen to the first track on John's comeback album Double Fantasy (1980) you'll notice a reference to the three mournful bells that opened "Mother," as "(Just Like) Starting Over" opens with three light, bright bells to signify his being in a more hopeful place a decade later.
Crystal, So glad you're doing an LP I know again. I love going down memory lane with you. Controversial opinion: of the Fab 4, John's post - Beatles offerings were the best! Very raw. Captivating. Real. No gimmicks.
A very sparsely-produced album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band is a masterpiece. With just three main musicians - John Lennon, Ringo Starr & Klaus Voorman (bass) - the emotional variety of the album is breathtaking. On side two, the piano is played by both Billy Preston and Phil Spector, albeit on different songs. Talking of Phil Spector, it's perhaps surprising that not only did he co-produce this album, he also produced All Things Must Pass. Frankly, both albums couldn't be any more different. Once you've heard side two, I'd be interested in your reaction to Paul's debut album, McCartney. It's a lo-fi recording like this, but with considerably more homespun charm. Vastly underrated, in my opinion.
John had done primal scream therapy at this time and Mother is one of the results. He obviously had parental issues, but this also comes inbthe context if the Beatles breaking up and John struggling with drug addiction. Cold Turkey is another one where he let's loose with that a bit. It's an amazing display of talent to allow the ugliness to show while making something so beautiful. This is kind of an exhausting listen from front to back. The sadness, bitterness and turmoil never lets up.
😄 At 7:03, the reason that series of notes sounds so familiar is because you just got through listening to "Pet Sounds." They also occur throughout "Wouldn't It Be Nice."
😎👍 There's also a good chance that he might've been subliminally influenced by the then recent hit, "Something In The Air." ua-cam.com/video/T59hsln7nlc/v-deo.html
I absolutely love the John Lennon Plastic Ono Band album! It’s emotional, raw and amazing, my favourite song from this album is Love which is in my top 30 songs of all time!!!
Thank you so much, Crystal! I love this album. So intense and personal and moving, especially when you know a bit about John's life story. The other indispensable Lennon album is Imagine. It's my favorite overall, and I really hope you will bless us someday with a reaction to it.
IMO, the best solo album by the 4. It's astounding in so many ways but scared me the first time I heard it. It even seems to predict punk rock by about 7 or 8 years. At the time, John had a lot of resentment. He took it out on this album. He stripped it down to himself, a bass player, Ringo on drums, and an occasional keyboard player. Perfecting the tracks was not the intent altogether. Mistakes were left in. A strange use of Phil Spector. And despite the few instruments, there really is a lot of variety between each track. The bell at the beginning is supposed be a funeral bell. It was indeed John's perspective of his childhood. A child saying goodbye and then suddenly running back to his parents screaming, 'Come back!!!' The 'cookie' in 'Hold On' is John's imitation of Sesame Street's Cookie Monster. Who knows why? Why did he say 'cranberry sauce' at the end of 'Strawberry Fields Forever'? 'Isolation' was pretty much a song about the crap he and Yoko were taking from nearly everyone at the time.
"Cookies" is similar to when John said "Cranberry Sauce" at the end of "Strawberry Fields Forever". John just goofing. Ringo repeats the "Cookies" in his song about his desire to see The Beatles get back together, "Early 1970".
I can't wait for you to review side two because the song 'Love' is perhaps John's most beautiful, touching and wonderful song he ever wrote, I am serious. I cannot wait for you to respond to "Love'!!!
i was repainting my bedroom listening to this on FM when it was released. had to take a break cause i never had heard a studio recording so stripped down and raw. To answer you question on "COOKIE"......Sesame Street's Cookie Monster very popular back then.
"I couldn't walk/and I tried to run". This LP was result of John's going through "Primal Therapy" with Arthur Janov. He later said he wished he hadn't -- probably because it exposed him to the trauma but wasn't a cure. It's also an extension of "The Ballad of John and Yoko".
I think it made him very bitter and angry for about a year or two, but then he slowly got back to normal albeit older and wiser. When Paul went out to LA to see John, John gave him a hug and said, “hugs are good, Paul.”
@@Sweetish_Jeff_ John always had anger issues. As said, he later said he regretted going through Primal Therapy, probably because it opened him to the pain of the traumas but did nothing to resolve or cure them.
@@Sweetish_Jeff_ Did it "Make" him bitter and angry, or did it connect him to the existing bitterness and anger which over time he came to terms with by integrating that part of himself? As for "hugs"/physical contact: that wouldn't be unusual for one deprived in childhood of physical affection.
I start my day with your reactions. Because it's early in the morning here while it's late at night where you are. This time - by listening your journey through this album - I remembered my december 8, 1980. I was sixteen years old. I got woke up by my radio as usual to get up and prepare to school. But this day the speaker said that John Lennon was shot and killed in New York. I was already a huge Beatles fan at this time. I had grown up with them and felt close to the four guys - like brothers or cousins. This news this morning was destroying. From this day on I couldn't stand anymore listening to the Beatles or one of them. And it needed approximately five years before I rediscovered the Beatles. Then in my twenties I started again listening to them. And this redicovering had a great impact on me - because: after years of listening to many many other bands and artists I had now for the first time comparisms and I could now see the incredible quality that the Beatles had in those early days. So my second approach was not only by taste but also by conviction. The world misses John's voice right today. I gueass your next reaction could be side 1 of 'McCartney'. 🙂
The guitar sound on “Hold On” is a built in effect on Fender amps actually labeled “vibrato”, although the effect could more accurately be described as tremolo, as it’s a volume modulation rather than pitch. Good ear!
I love that you got it. You're clearly not in John's generation, but you sense what he was trying to communicate. He wanted to quit being a Beatle and all the baggage that came with it. Cheers!
Crystal, keep in mind that the classic albums you've been reviewing by the Beatles, Pink Floyd, the Beach Boys, and John Lennon were all recorded, mixed, edited, and released in analogue. The kind of digital music software available now didn't exist then. Neither did autotune. All the more reason these albums were so impressive.
There is a live album recorded in 1969 before the Beatles break up the next year. it's called the Plastic Ono Band Live in Toronto...live concert with a make shift band going by that name with Lennon, a very stoned Eric Clapton on lead guitar, Klaus Vorman on bass, and Alan White on drums I believe. Plus side 2, live at that concert, Yoko screaming and carrying on... Egad!!
2:23 Lennon's mother was hit by a car while crossing a street and died when he was 17 years old. His father had abandoned him and his mother when he was a child. As you can hear, these two events impacted him throughout his life. His mother was named Julia and Lennon wrote the song "Julia" about her (White Album). His oldest son, Julian, is named after her.
Your so sweet when you close your program with good wishes and take it easy❤️ This is the first time I've heard this album and I like side one. I never really listened to any of the Beatles solo albums aside from Paul McCartney's "Band On The Run", John Lennon's "Double Fantasy", but I like this trip with you cause you bring up alot of cool stuff, like the vibrato thing and the instrumentals and his vocals. John never liked his vocals very much so he was always manipulating it. "Mother"was extremely personal to him cause he got raised by his Auntie and just when they were getting to a point where he was, she got killed. I think John had to settle with done his mates in the band because the Beatles really didn't have any money once they split up cause of all the lawsuits, so he really used his voice as the vehicle to drive this album. Great job Crystal, let's keep it going!
Another enjoyable edition. Thanks so much Crystal. You may wanna try John's singles as well: Give Peace a Chance Cold Turkey Instant Karma Power to the People Happy X-Mas (War Is Over) There's also a live album (Live Peace in Toronto 1969) where side 2 is all John. Aside from all that, I'm looking forward to side 2 and, eventually, Walls and Bridges (my favorite Lennon album) and ultimately digging into some solo McCartney (please) Stay Strong Cheers!
John's raw emotional vulnerability makes this the bravest album ever recorded.
John was in the middle of Primal Scream therapy when he wrote these songs. According to Wiki
Following the break-up of the Beatles in April 1970, John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono undertook primal therapy with the guidance of Arthur Janov for four weeks at his London offices. The three then flew to Los Angeles to continue the therapy for four months.[6] Janov's therapy technique emphasised emotionally reliving repressed childhood traumas rather than analytical discussion.[7]
Lennon and Ono stayed in a rented house in Bel Air, keeping a low profile and committing fully to Janov's course.[8] Lennon embraced the discipline as he had Transcendental Meditation in the late 1960s, and the act of engaging with past traumas became "to primal".[9] Ono later commented that primal therapy helped curb his possessiveness towards her, as he recognised that his feelings of jealousy stemmed from events that took place long before they met.[9]
With the experience he received from the therapy, Lennon was able to channel his emotions into an album's worth of self-revelatory material.[10] In July, he started to record demos of songs that would show up on John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. On 26 July, he taped numerous demos of "God", which includes the line "I don't believe in Beatles".[11] "When a Boy Meets a Girl" was among the songs Lennon demoed at this time, but he did not record it for the album.
Absolutely! It stands alone.
I can barely stand to listen to Mother, it’s too powerful.
@@MichaelLantz Primal therapy is such a sham but at least it gave us this masterpiece of an album.
It’s Ringo on drums, John on all guitar/piano and Klaus Voormann (the guy who drew the Revolver album cover) on bass. Billy Preston plays organ on organ the song God. Great analysis, as usual. I watch a bunch of reaction videos (I’m old and retired!) and think you’re the best at it. You should start a Patreon channel!
I agree!!!😃👍☮️❤️
Ummm...what organ on the song "God"? Billy Preston plays PIANO on 'God' and Phil Spector plays piano on "Love".
@@ronaldtdump2156 Thanks Dump, you are correct
Should check out "Call me Caroline", i believe she is Australian.... has also recently covered the Beatles et. al. Also a smart analysis.
Raw and honest. I mean who has ever been as honest as John Lennon? This intense album has always been one of my favorites. Just wait for the intensity of side 2!
Yes its a powerful piece of work..
By a genius
Can’t wait till she gets to Side 2..
@@CANDOKNOWHOW i know
So good, so so good
Easily my favourite solo beatles album
There is SO MUCH raw emotion on this album, it's completely unique in rock history, so immensely personal. I'm not sure if Lennon ever matched it in terms of self-expression. Enjoy Side II!
Plastic Ono Band has so much to say to us all, fifty or so years beyond its recording. It will have so much to say fifty years from now too, ‘love is real, real is love’…in John we deal with a very different kind of artist.
Ringo is the drummer on this album. Great work from him. I like this album because it solidified that John was best when he was writing songs about himself and his life.
Hey Crystal all we really have are each other on our few turns around the sun on the rock we call home. Remember to smile. It can be contagious!
It's amazing to hear how good they were as individuals.....but how GREAT they were as a band!!!!!!!!!!For there will never be another Beatles!!!
John is my favorite Beatle.
You can really hear his independence from being in a high profile group with his post Beatles work and this album is a great example of that.
Thanks Crystal for Such a meaningfull analyses.
I wish so badly that John Lennon was still alive. I've never completely connected with any of the other Beatles' solo careers as much as John's.
Crystal, it's great that you are continuing your music exploration with Post-Beatles albums. I remember when All Things Must Pass, JL/Plastic Ono Band, and McCartney first came out. I bought them all and listened to them many times.
Now I can relive the thrill of my younger days as you listen to the Post-Beatles music for the first time.
Thank you!
20:13 Might be my fav part cuz I really think there’re some of the YTers don’t care about their subscribers (No matter how much they are) and so at every time I finish watching one of your videos I just read maybe half of the comment section and I gotta admit that they’re really so kindly written and caring.. the way that makes me goes like she must be happy rn reading this... Wish u all best ☮️💟
Aww Brandon thank you!!! You are so right there are definitely a lot of people on here that are so kind, compassionate and extremely helpful during this insanely rough time. I am very very lucky to have such a strong community to be a part of. Very lucky to be able to be in touch with people like you. Heart warming and caring. Gotta say this is one of those moments that leave me smiling and hopeful for this world. Thank you for being a beacon of light! ✨
@@CrystalMarieShannon I'm so proud of this gosh Idk what to say but... Ik I'm gonna get back here and read this reply over and over again, stay safe C. ^_^
Working Class Hero is such a gut punch. I’ve been listening to that song for decades and it gets me every time. Incredible.
...I only wish I had listened to it at age 18. I was so close - I really admired John. But unfortunately, I was scared off by the few solo songs I had heard. If I had heard this album, I would have been blown away, and deeply affected.
The song Mother by John Lennon was the first piece of art that brought me to tears all those years ago.
This album came out of John's Primal Scream therapy. It captures that raw emotion
Album echos much of that therapy
Ohhhh thank you for tell me this, absolutely gives a different perspective!
@@CrystalMarieShannon yes once you know this it gives a whole other perspective.
Yes. John went into the studio on many late nights and screamed into the mic, "Mama don't go, daddy come home." It was both musical expression and therapy.
Finally coming to terms with himself.
IMO, this is the best solo album by any of the Beatles, and one of the best albums by anybody. John would be even more of a legend if he could have sustained this incredible level of uncompromising artistic expression.
I agree!
I wish John himself could see this. You nailed it in the first song, comparing it to the wail of a baby....the "primal scream", a term (and therapy) this album is associated with. And nailed it again: "vibrato" is literally the knob on the amp that John was using to get that guitar sound in "Hold On" And nailed it again on the third song: John was going for simplicity, anti-Beatle sound, and direct emotion. No flowery words, no poetry. 12:29 made me burst out laughing, lol. Good callback to "Rocky Raccoon" and the acoustic songs of The White Album. Ultimately Dylan would be the musical influence on "Working Class Hero" (specifically a song called, "North Country Blues")./ PS: John did three singles in the year and a half before this album: "Give Peace A Chance", "Cold Turkey" and "Instant Karma". Three completely different sounding songs from each other, and "Plastic Ono Band"! That might make a great short video, just those three songs, all three are classics. Ringo's albums from this period aren't worth a video, but his single "It Don't Come Easy" (made with George) is. And that's fitting, since he only had one song per Beatles album usually! :D PSS: This is one of my favorite reactions you've done. "Dark Side" also. Thanks, Crystal!!!!
I’m not just saying this. I believe wherever John Lennon is, he’s smiling after watching this. If he were alive today, I think he’d love social media and he’d be retweeting this on his Twitter and posting on his Facebook and Instagram telling his followers to go check out Crystal Shannon.
The old Fender amps has built-in vibrato, adjustable for speed and intensity.
Excellent initial take on an important but comparatively overlooked LP. I can’t wait for your take on McCartney’s RAM.
Ram is one of my favourite albums of all time. I'm looking forward to that one too, but presume Crystal will do McCartney (the first) first!
@@CowmanUK She really should do McCartney first, but it looks like she only did Ram.
Crystal... Thank you for this. Great job. And have a GREAT day!
This was by far the most confronting and challenging of the solo albums released by the individual Beatles following their break-up. As part of the backdrop, you must remember that Lennon came from a broken home and that, at the age of 5 or 6, was asked to choose between his flighty mother Julia and his father Fred when the latter was about to depart for New Zealand. He initially went towards Fred but ultimately ran back to his mother, the somewhat flighty Julia. As this album shows, this and other childhood experiences clearly left a deep emotional and psychological mark on him, notably in tracks like "Mother" and "I Found Out". He remained with Julia but, for much of his childhood, lived with his (very strict) Aunt Mimi (Julia's sister). As he grew up, he became one of the class pests at school, dropped out and went to art school, where he met McCartney, who had recently lost his mother to cancer. A year or so after they met, Julia was killed in a tragic car accident, something else that scarred Lennon for a long time and covered quite dramatically in a movie called "Backbeat". The rest of course is history. John's personal torment was more or less suppressed during his Beatles' years, but he always seemed to be the one with a predisposition to experiment, especially with drugs and notably with heroin in the wake of the Beatles' sojourn in India in 1968, but also musically. BTW, if we're to believe "Get Back", he seemed to have kicked the heroin by early 1969, although following the Beatles break-up, he did seek help from a noted therapist called Arthur Janov. This album actually covers much of that journey and seeks to link it back to his childhood experiences. The album itself, as I say, is his most direct and challenging. I think it sold but, only a year or so later, he sought to cover at least some of the same ground on a much more commercially saleable album, "Imagine".
"Leave it to John Lennon to create a fifth direction." Love it.
YAY you did this album! It's intense isn't it? It's not punk but punks mention this album as inspiration - the relative simplicity of structure and choice of instruments, the sometimes overwhelming tsunami of emotion followed by intimate, quiet moments of calm and encouragement. But oh boy once you hear "Mother" you can't unhear it. Raw beauty.
Hold On is my favourite song of all time. It fills me with so much comfort to hear those words come from the man himself! I love him. This is a great reaction
John talked about the sound of sadness the bell brought to the beginning of this album and purposefully used a happy sounding bell at the beginning of "Double Fantasy."
Lovely drum production on this LP.... always loved it!
Ohhhh I count agree with you more Neil!! Spot on! Awesome drumming!
This album begins with funeral bells. On John's last album, he used 3 happy bells because he was starting over
Full circle.
(Just Like) Starting Over
Sad to remember what happened shortly after
@@GheberAlien I was 8 years old when the Starting Over single came out in November 1980. I remember it was close to Thanksgiving and going to the record store to buy the 45. I must have played it a thousand times and then just a couple of weeks later, John was gone. I’m grateful that I was alive when John was still alive and that was the summer I discovered The Beatles. And, if there had been UA-cam back then, I probably would have been just like Crystal with the pure joy on my face and in my eyes over the music. I think of this every time I listen to Starting Over.
@@Sweetish_Jeff_ Let's see. I was 21 when "Starting Over" came out. I did not care for this song as much as his follow-up hits "Woman" and the double-sided one of "Watching the Wheels, and "Beautiful Boy". I well remember that it entered the charts at #38, which was very impressive for an initial entry, but then climbed to only #32 the following week. But the week after that it shot all the way up to #10 and then was slowly making its way towards the top when tragedy struck and he was senselessly killed. God it was sad. After his death the song leaped to the top and spent five weeks there and ending up becoming one of the biggest hits of the year. I have often wondered if that song would have made it to #1 on its own if poor Mr. JL had not been gunned down in front of his apartment.
Crystal I am glad that you like the song "Mother" here is the inspiration for the song "Mother"
The lyrics of "Mother" address both of Lennon's parents, each of whom abandoned him in his childhood. His father, Alf, left the family when John was an infant. His mother, Julia, did not live with her son, although they had a good relationship; she was hit and killed in a car accident on 15 July 1958 by an off-duty policeman named Eric Clague, when Lennon was 17
To clarify - she was a pedestrian, and was hit by a car while walking across the street to catch the bus after leaving John's/his aunt's house after a visit - John wasn't at home when it happened. To expand John's story further, John's father came back into his life once Lennon became rich and famous, but they never got close, probably because John quite understandably distrusted the motives/timing of his father's return. When his father abandoned John and his mother, she gave John to her sister to raise (Aunt Mimi). John said later that his mother came back into his life once he was a teenager, once she had settled down with a new family (giving John two half-sisters - she was a bit of a party girl until then). He got along well enough with his mother's new partner (IIRC she and John's father never actually got divorced) but he wouldn't take John to live with them as he didn't want to raise another man's son (as John's father never paid child support) when he already had two kids of his own to raise/support, and John was so settled in living with his aunt, they just decided to leave everything as it when his mother settled down and became more of a presence in his life. It was like his aunt was his mother, and his mother was a favorite/fun aunt. One thing that seemed a constant in John's early life was that almost everyone he cared about either abandoned him, died, or both. The aunt that raised him had no kids, so her husband loved John like a son. He was the loving, permissive parent while John's aunt was the disciplinarian. A few years before John's mother died, he also died, devastating John. Then a few years after his mother died, his best friend (Stu Sutcliffe) died...etc...
@@ronaldtdump2156 Paul McCartney said on the Howard Stern Show" that John Lennon believed that he was a cursed and that everybody he got close to died a short time (His Uncle George, His mother Julia and Stu Sutcliffe and etc).
Thank you. Take it easy too 🌞
You are diving into one of rock history most raw and honest albums ever- cuts through the heart and Bones and considered for many as the uncouicesness Birth of punk and later on grunge - The primitive simplicity of the recording and the raw gritty guitars was very new back there in the early 70'es ...Kurt Cobain loved this record
Crystal, I need you to know it's official!! Your fans have just voted you "Rookie of the Year" among all the new UA-cam music video reaction channels!!!!! Your trophy is in the mail (along with the cheque, lol)! Seriously, though, I have said it before and I will say it repeatedly - you are a treasure, and one of my very favourite channels on this platform! It is truly a shame you don't have hundreds of thousands of subscribers, but keep it up and you will get there, I am sure! Since you asked, my request for you is to put on your list the albums by Queen and Supertramp!! Best to you as always!!!!!!!
Such a powerful album.Full of pain with moments of hope. His vocals on this are unmatched
What a wonderful way to listen to side one of Plastic Ono Band.
You’re awesome Crystal!
Sweet Dreams 🌹
great reaction ! thnx greetings from melb Australia at 8 :30 Wednesday morning !
Good morning to you my friend!!! 🪐✨
Thank you for this, Crystal.
I miss all those wild creative years.
X
I LOVE your very intelligent observations of this classic album.This was John's first post- Beatles album & was inspired by the Dr.Janov therapy known as " primal scream."...He was getting in touch with all his childhood & teen angst & anger. You picked up on all of that. Side 2 is also brutal, yet brilliant.
Crystal: Although I have no idea why John chose to do it, his "Cookie" shout in the song "Hold On" was what the Sesame Street (a fairly new US children's television program at the time) character, the Cookie Monster, would say (in the exact way Lennon said it) just before attacking/devouring an entire plate full of cookies.
Ahhh oh I love that reference!!! I love The Cookie Monster so much, the cutest!!! 💙 🍪
On the new POB boxed set, John does a jam of “Ain’t That A Shame” and at the end he shouts, “cookie!” LOL
Gran video Crystal.
Deseo que estes bien!
Loved your reactions & comments to this awesome album. So cool.
Wow Chrystal. Going from Pet Sounds to The Plastic Ono Band is like going from a silk glove to a sledge hammer. But interestingly enough, both albums from Messrs. Wilson and Lennon come from the depths of their inner being. Both baring their souls for the any and all to see. On to Side Two!! Enjoy, RNB
At 75, and a First Gen Beatles Fan (!), I just discovered your channel & can't tell you how MUCH it means to me to see & watch a musically sophisticated and intelligent young musician like you "Get The Beatles Virus" into your soul! It's life-changing. In 1964, I first heard them on radio, bought their 1st records, grew my Beatle "do" & got to see them at Red Rocks. My hair & face turned out to look like John & I created quite a stir in the audience -- photos, autographs, giggling, crying little girl fans... Over the next 3 weeks, a convoluted series of events from that led to my being flown from Denver to Dallas to meet them at their hotel and hang out with them in the dressing room, watching the concert from backstage & the wings. My world flipped upside down -- came home, got drums & embarked on a loong road of rock & roll & all that goes with it. I'm thrilled to see a couple of generations down from me being also so swept into The Fabs and The Beatles rabbit hole. Your reviews are MOST impressive! Thanx for your spirit, musicality and hard work 💜💙💚🧡
Speaking Of Paul,, A Classic Must Hear Album,, Paul & Linda McCartney "Ram"..The ONLY Album Which They Did Together..R.I.P. Linda 🙏 ❤
Yes Crystal, there are many examples of McCartney's influence on Lennon and vice versa throughout the 70's, it's magical.
Refreshingly emotional and viscerally literate reaction as usual Crystal. Thank you :)
Hi Crystal! I've loved all your reactions and this is the best one yet! I'm proud of how you handled this first side, one of the most intense artistic expressions ever. I was so blown away the first time I heard this album all those years ago. John invented hardcore with I Found Out...just a masterpiece of an album.
You hot it out of the park again with this reaction. A great album! Hope you have an amazing day.👍👏🤗
Ahhh yay!! Thank you so much Gord 💕🧡
@@CrystalMarieShannon You're welcome! Looking forward to side two. 😊
John, Ringo and Klas Voorman on bass. John's masterpiece.
One of Ringo 's finest efforts.
John’s first two solo albums are absolute classics. All Things Must Pass was George’s masterpiece. Can’t wait till you get to Paul McCartney and Wings’s Band on the Run. It took Paul a little while to steady his footing after the breakup, but after BOTR, he was in full-flight once again. All four did great work in the ‘70s.
During mixing and production, Lennon taped over the VU meters. He didn't want to be constrained by the meters, but just wanted to use his ears only.
That’s one of the things i love most about this album. He really focuses our ears on the lyrics, and the story of each song. Like on the song God, when he sings “i don’t believe” how ever many times. Its sort of musically “incorrect” from a songwriting perspective, but getting the message out was paramount.
A tragic album that speaks to me over 50 years in my life.
I've had a tragic life and i know what he was trying to say.
A brilliant album from a brilliant artist.
I understand, John.
Rest in peace, my hero!
This is my favorite Lennon solo album. It's so raw and real. Can't wait to see the rest of your reaction to the album! 😊
This is in my top 10 favorites ever. It fitted my mental state at the time I first heard it as an emotionally messed up teenager. Vibrato is exactly the right guitar term. The Hold On melody you point out has always sounded familiar to me too and that's for the past 40 years and I haven't put my finger on it either. And he says COOKIE because he's a very fun loving guy when he's in that mood. He's very relaxed during the recording of this album but he's singing some very heavy stuff that comes from underneath that hilarious exterior.
You give such great insightful comments musically and the flow of the lyrics.
Cookie is John imitating the Cookie Monster on Sesame Street ... just because he felt like it.
For Lennon's entire life, it seemed like the media, the fans, and often those closest to him found it hard to tell where his head was at. Starting with "Help!" his songwriting evolved into something that let us in, culminating with Plastic Ono and Imagine. The end of the Beatles (and his relationship with Yoko) liberated him.
Trivia: When "Sgt. Pepper" came out artists since then felt the need to do their own "Sgt. Pepper" - with this album by John, artists since then have felt the need to do their own "Plastic Ono Band" or "Primal" album 🎶
I quite enjoyed your take on this one. When you began and said you hadn't heard it before, I knew you were in for an experience. Thanks for sharing it with us.
John 'screams' on Mother because at the time he was doing Primal Scream therapy which requires you to scream the pain away.
Love you too! It is more than a pleasure to watch your reactions and knowledgeable explanations! You are like a friend to us. I believe I can speak for everyone in this regard. You are such a good soul! Don't forget that John's music was made before the Bee Gees were really well known so if you think you hear them in his song you should remind yourself that it was the other way around! In fact the whole rock music scene followed their example and progress. Back then it was The Beatles and then everyone else playing catch up behind them! Love to you!!! Be Happy! A song I would suggest you listen to is Yoko Ono's song Goodbye Sadness, it's a song from the album that she released after John's death. It is beautiful and might help you through sad times. Peace!
That "guitar vibrato" you're talking about is a flanger effect. It's a really beautiful way to give the guitar a human-like quality when its notes sustain. Glad you enjoyed side one. :)
A minimalist masterpiece.
This album was very primal, and consciously simple with mostly just Ringo on Drums, Klaus on Bass and John on Vox/Guitar/Keys
I would not have expected this album would get the 1st listen/reaction treatment! This should be something!
One of my all-time favorite albums! Can't wait for your reaction to Side 2!
Listening to you talking about how good we impact your life and it's quite the opposite. At least for me it's so relaxing and joyfull stare at you reacting with your smooth voice and your sweetness. I can hardly wait to hear you say "número 4" i don't know why but it's sounds so melodious to me. You are my favorite!
When The Beatles broke up in early 1970, John fell into a deep depression and didn't leave his house for two months. He sought help from a LA therapist who specialized in primal scream therapy. That is what inspired this album. I hope you are doing great Crystal!
No matter how much he let on in public, I think John was truly hurt that The Beatles split. He put up a good front and had that tough facade in public, but I think privately he was really sad it was over.
@@Sweetish_Jeff_ ...while on the other hand he was the one who had left the band earlier.
@@PeterBuwen He wanted The Beatles to record a new album for Christmas 1969. This was after Abbey Road. John suggested 14 tracks: four of his, four of Paul, four of George, and two for Ringo if he wanted it. Paul wasn’t keen on the arrangement and none of them could agree. A few days later John played live in Toronto with the POB and that gave him the confidence to move on from The Beatles.
Same thing happened to Paul McCartney, except he didn't go into Primal Therapy, but instead went on a long drinking binge which his wife Linda helped to pull him of and get him back on his feet again.
Another fantasgreat album and reaction Crystal! Can’t wait for side II 😃.
Hey Crystal, another excellent album reaction video, kudos. Both All Things Must Pass and John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band were co-produced by Phil Spector. He will also work on Imagine the following year. His last work with any of the boys, if I'm not mistaken. As a bit of trivia, on the same day of release of John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band was its sister album Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band with the exact same cover only the couple trading places and same back cover with Yoko's baby picture. Both albums done under the same sessions. In many ways both albums complete each other conceptually although Yoko's musical approach is considerably different. Looking at the comments I was pleased to see that someone has already mentioned Lennon's first three singles prior to this [Give Peace A Chance (1969), Cold Turkey (1969) and Instant Karma (1970)] but wish to also add one more single that never made it on album Power To The People (1972) released after the album Imagine. On a similar note, I'd like to talk to you about Ringo Starr. I would strongly suggest you follow his three albums released between 1973-1976 (RINGO (1973), Goodnight Vienna (1974) and Ringo's Rotogravure (1976). Between 1970-1971 Ringo did release two excellent singles: It Don't Come Easy/Early 1970 (1971) and Back Off Boogaloo (1972) that are generally loved by most Beatles fans. Paul McCartney also released a number of singles only songs between 1970-1972. But the McCartney album did come first. We can talk about those singles later. Awaiting Side Two; stay healthy, stay well.
Cookieee!👾
(That was the closest thing to a cookie monster emoji I could find. Sesame Street had just started out when this album was recorded and was an instant success.)
Primal scream therapy. Lennon really sang his ass off on this album. Its one of the best ever.
Great choice … great start looking forward ti side 2😁
Nicely done!!! BTW, if you listen to the first track on John's comeback album Double Fantasy (1980) you'll notice a reference to the three mournful bells that opened "Mother," as "(Just Like) Starting Over" opens with three light, bright bells to signify his being in a more hopeful place a decade later.
Crystal, So glad you're doing an LP I know again. I love going down memory lane with you. Controversial opinion: of the Fab 4, John's post - Beatles offerings were the best! Very raw. Captivating. Real. No gimmicks.
A very sparsely-produced album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band is a masterpiece. With just three main musicians - John Lennon, Ringo Starr & Klaus Voorman (bass) - the emotional variety of the album is breathtaking. On side two, the piano is played by both Billy Preston and Phil Spector, albeit on different songs. Talking of Phil Spector, it's perhaps surprising that not only did he co-produce this album, he also produced All Things Must Pass. Frankly, both albums couldn't be any more different. Once you've heard side two, I'd be interested in your reaction to Paul's debut album, McCartney. It's a lo-fi recording like this, but with considerably more homespun charm. Vastly underrated, in my opinion.
John had done primal scream therapy at this time and Mother is one of the results. He obviously had parental issues, but this also comes inbthe context if the Beatles breaking up and John struggling with drug addiction. Cold Turkey is another one where he let's loose with that a bit.
It's an amazing display of talent to allow the ugliness to show while making something so beautiful.
This is kind of an exhausting listen from front to back. The sadness, bitterness and turmoil never lets up.
Loved it! Thank you! We’re all in this together!
PS: Ringo is the drummer on this album, so you actually get two Beatles for the price of one! :D (Ringo was on "All Things Must Pass" as well.)
...cant wait side B...much ❤
😄 At 7:03, the reason that series of notes sounds so familiar is because you just got through listening to "Pet Sounds." They also occur throughout "Wouldn't It Be Nice."
😎👍 There's also a good chance that he might've been subliminally influenced by the then recent hit, "Something In The Air." ua-cam.com/video/T59hsln7nlc/v-deo.html
I absolutely love the John Lennon Plastic Ono Band album! It’s emotional, raw and amazing, my favourite song from this album is Love which is in my top 30 songs of all time!!!
"The world is just a little town."
The Doors debut album would be my next recommendation for a reaction video.
The group was John and Yoko with Ringo on drums and Klaus Voorman (who did the artwork for the Revolver album cover) on bass
Thank you so much, Crystal! I love this album. So intense and personal and moving, especially when you know a bit about John's life story. The other indispensable Lennon album is Imagine. It's my favorite overall, and I really hope you will bless us someday with a reaction to it.
All you need is love. Love is all you need.
IMO, the best solo album by the 4. It's astounding in so many ways but scared me the first time I heard it. It even seems to predict punk rock by about 7 or 8 years.
At the time, John had a lot of resentment. He took it out on this album. He stripped it down to himself, a bass player, Ringo on drums, and an occasional keyboard player. Perfecting the tracks was not the intent altogether. Mistakes were left in. A strange use of Phil Spector. And despite the few instruments, there really is a lot of variety between each track.
The bell at the beginning is supposed be a funeral bell. It was indeed John's perspective of his childhood. A child saying goodbye and then suddenly running back to his parents screaming, 'Come back!!!'
The 'cookie' in 'Hold On' is John's imitation of Sesame Street's Cookie Monster. Who knows why? Why did he say 'cranberry sauce' at the end of 'Strawberry Fields Forever'?
'Isolation' was pretty much a song about the crap he and Yoko were taking from nearly everyone at the time.
Ringo also gave a callback shout-out to "Cookie" in Early 1970, which also cracks me up. 😹
Lennon invented punk and grunge music
"Cookies" is similar to when John said "Cranberry Sauce" at the end of "Strawberry Fields Forever". John just goofing. Ringo repeats the "Cookies" in his song about his desire to see The Beatles get back together, "Early 1970".
YEahh En Plastic Ono Band John realiza una catarsis espectacular!!!
I can't wait for you to review side two because the song 'Love' is perhaps John's most beautiful, touching and wonderful song he ever wrote, I am serious. I cannot wait for you to respond to "Love'!!!
i was repainting my bedroom listening to this on FM when it was released. had to take a break cause i never had heard a studio recording so stripped down and raw. To answer you question on "COOKIE"......Sesame Street's Cookie Monster very popular back then.
"I couldn't walk/and I tried to run".
This LP was result of John's going through "Primal Therapy" with Arthur Janov. He later said he wished he hadn't -- probably because it exposed him to the trauma but wasn't a cure.
It's also an extension of "The Ballad of John and Yoko".
I think it made him very bitter and angry for about a year or two, but then he slowly got back to normal albeit older and wiser. When Paul went out to LA to see John, John gave him a hug and said, “hugs are good, Paul.”
@@Sweetish_Jeff_ John always had anger issues. As said, he later said he regretted going through Primal Therapy, probably because it opened him to the pain of the traumas but did nothing to resolve or cure them.
@@Sweetish_Jeff_ Did it "Make" him bitter and angry, or did it connect him to the existing bitterness and anger which over time he came to terms with by integrating that part of himself?
As for "hugs"/physical contact: that wouldn't be unusual for one deprived in childhood of physical affection.
@@monkmchorning The practice is still the dark ages.
@@monkmchorning Tell us of your study and experience in the field.
Yay! So happy!
I start my day with your reactions. Because it's early in the morning here while it's late at night where you are.
This time - by listening your journey through this album - I remembered my december 8, 1980. I was sixteen years old. I got woke up by my radio as usual to get up and prepare to school. But this day the speaker said that John Lennon was shot and killed in New York. I was already a huge Beatles fan at this time. I had grown up with them and felt close to the four guys - like brothers or cousins. This news this morning was destroying. From this day on I couldn't stand anymore listening to the Beatles or one of them. And it needed approximately five years before I rediscovered the Beatles. Then in my twenties I started again listening to them. And this redicovering had a great impact on me - because: after years of listening to many many other bands and artists I had now for the first time comparisms and I could now see the incredible quality that the Beatles had in those early days. So my second approach was not only by taste but also by conviction.
The world misses John's voice right today.
I gueass your next reaction could be side 1 of 'McCartney'. 🙂
The guitar sound on “Hold On” is a built in effect on Fender amps actually labeled “vibrato”, although the effect could more accurately be described as tremolo, as it’s a volume modulation rather than pitch. Good ear!
I love that you got it. You're clearly not in John's generation, but you sense what he was trying to communicate. He wanted to quit being a Beatle and all the baggage that came with it. Cheers!
Crystal, keep in mind that the classic albums you've been reviewing by the Beatles, Pink Floyd, the Beach Boys, and John Lennon were all recorded, mixed, edited, and released in analogue. The kind of digital music software available now didn't exist then. Neither did autotune. All the more reason these albums were so impressive.
There is a live album recorded in 1969 before the Beatles break up the next year. it's called the Plastic Ono Band Live in Toronto...live concert with a make shift band going by that name with Lennon, a very stoned Eric Clapton on lead guitar, Klaus Vorman on bass, and Alan White on drums I believe. Plus side 2, live at that concert, Yoko screaming and carrying on... Egad!!
2:23 Lennon's mother was hit by a car while crossing a street and died when he was 17 years old. His father had abandoned him and his mother when he was a child. As you can hear, these two events impacted him throughout his life. His mother was named Julia and Lennon wrote the song "Julia" about her (White Album). His oldest son, Julian, is named after her.
This is one of my favorite albums. Have listened to it start to finish about as much as any album.
Your so sweet when you close your program with good wishes and take it easy❤️ This is the first time I've heard this album and I like side one. I never really listened to any of the Beatles solo albums aside from Paul McCartney's "Band On The Run", John Lennon's "Double Fantasy", but I like this trip with you cause you bring up alot of cool stuff, like the vibrato thing and the instrumentals and his vocals. John never liked his vocals very much so he was always manipulating it. "Mother"was extremely personal to him cause he got raised by his Auntie and just when they were getting to a point where he was, she got killed. I think John had to settle with done his mates in the band because the Beatles really didn't have any money once they split up cause of all the lawsuits, so he really used his voice as the vehicle to drive this album. Great job Crystal, let's keep it going!
Another enjoyable edition. Thanks so much Crystal. You may wanna try John's singles as well:
Give Peace a Chance
Cold Turkey
Instant Karma
Power to the People
Happy X-Mas (War Is Over)
There's also a live album (Live Peace in Toronto 1969) where side 2 is all John.
Aside from all that, I'm looking forward to side 2 and, eventually, Walls and Bridges (my favorite Lennon album) and ultimately digging into some solo McCartney (please)
Stay Strong
Cheers!